1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing whole beets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most desirable cut of beet from a consumer preference standpoint is a beet slice of substantially uniform thickness and diameter. The preferable diameter from a consumer preference standpoint is within the range of 11/2-21/4 inches in diameter. Such "small" beets were processed by simply slicing each beet from one end to the other which resulted in only a portion of the slices which would fall into the most desirable diameter. Prior to this invention, larger beets of approximately 21/2 inches in diameter and larger were normally processed to produce only a lesser desirable cut, i.e., dices, shoestrings or odd sized chunks. Such "large" size beets constituted approximately 40% or 50% of the entire crop.
One object of the present invention is to produce a premium cut beet slice from a large beet, i.e., a slice having a uniform diameter of within a range of approximately 11/2-13/4 inches. Another object is to produce a secondary cut (from the same beet) in the shape of a relatively uniform moon-shaped segment which has equal or better consumer preference as the prior diced, shoestring and chunk cuts. Another object is to provide a method and apparatus which accomplishes the desired cut configurations with efficiency, reliability and adaptability to high volume processing.